The first race of the 2022 Formula 1 season left us with a beautiful and spectacular duel for the lead between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. The exciting battle ended with the Monegasque ahead thanks to good time management with the DRS and knowing when to overtake the Dutchman to gain an advantage that he could not recover any further.
The Sakhir circuit is ideal for experiencing this type of fight on the track, as happened in 2014 between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, since the long straight and the linked ones that connect with the second section of DRS make it easy to be glued to the single-seater of in front of.
Thanks to the new camera that Formula 1 has added from inside the helmet of the drivers who use the Bell brand, the only manufacturer that is currently allowed this eye-cam device, we were able to see this incredible duel between the Ferrari and that of Red Bull.
The moment Leclerc enters the finish straight, he begins to look in the mirrors to know where Verstappen is, and the most curious of all is his intelligence to know where the DRS detection point of the car was. next zone, since with this he could return the play to the Dutch.
The Monegasque avoids putting the last and eighth gear of the Ferrari so that the Red Bull overtakes him before braking, and thanks to this he obtains the following DRS. In addition, he lays out laps in a way where he comes out with more traction, increasing his speed to overtake Verstappen ahead of Turn 4, the point at which the Dutchman lost last year’s victory for exceeding the limits of the race. clue.
This is a show of intelligence from Leclerc, who climbed to the top of the podium for the third time in his career, allowing the Italian team to celebrate a triumph that had eluded him since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. On that occasion it was Sebastian Vettel who lifted the trophy as the winner of the race, and curiously the Monegasque was the one who completed what, until now, was Ferrari’s last double.
With Carlos Sainz’s second place, the Maranello team unquestionably returned to the fight for the title, and with actions like Leclerc’s they have secured two consistent riders for the intense battle ahead.
In addition, Formula 1 has been successful in allowing us to have this type of images from inside the helmet of the protagonists who are on the asphalt to live with emotion what happens in the Great Circus.
